THE CLAIM THAT JESUS NOW REIGNS OVER THE NATIONS DISHONORS OUR SAVIOR

by Jonathan Brentner

The claim that Jesus is already reigning over the nations is extremely popular in churches today. Many pastors preach that Jesus is already fulfilling the words of Psalms such as 2 and 110 thus ruling over His inheritance of the nations from the Father (Psalm 2:8-9).

In light of the prevalence of such beliefs, we must ask several questions. Does what we see in our world reflect the character of what we would expect from Jesus’ reign upon the earth? Is our current experience of a kingdom the one to which the New Testament says we are heirs?

Please, please don’t dismiss this as a theological discussion with no significance for you. The character and timing of Jesus’ rule over the nations has profound implications for us as new Testament saints.

I believe we can refute the claim that Jesus now reigns over the nations on the basis of the answer to one critical question:

Does what we see in our world at this moment match what Scripture tells us about the character of the Messiah and His rule?

No, it most certainly does not. The claim that Jesus is now fulfilling the words of Psalm 2 not only contradicts the words Scripture, but greatly dishonors our Savior.

For us as believers, this is wonderful and over-the-top joyous news because it signifies that our inheritance of a kingdom will be so much more spectacular and amazing than our current experience in this world.

Let’s examine what the Bible tells us will characterize Jesus’ future reign in fulfillment of the Messianic Psalms (i.e. 2, 110, and many others) because its there we discover just how much the current claims of a kingdom dishonor our Lord.
JESUS WILL END ALL WARS WHEN HE REIGNS

Those who tells us that Jesus now reigns over the nations imply that He now rules over a world filled with wars, violence, and unending ethnic strife. Such a belief directly contradicts what the Bible says about the character of the Savior’s realm.

Psalm 46 tells us that when Jesus rules over the nations, wars will no longer exist on the earth. Psalm 46:9-10 reveals that although the nations will “rage” against the Lord (v. 6), warfare will most certainly not exist when the Lord rules over the nations:


He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

Isaiah 2:4 emphasizes that Jesus’ reign over the nations will be one of absolute peace. Jesus is indeed the “Prince of Peace” and that will characterize His coming kingdom.

Be very sure that when the government rests upon the “shoulder” of the child born in Bethlehem (Isaiah 9:6), wars and ethnic violence will most certainly cease to exist upon the earth. Those who say Jesus is now ruling over the nations do a great disservice to His glorious Name.
JESUS WILL RULE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

During the past fifty years, the worldwide total number of children murdered via abortion exceeds one billion. Sex trafficking has a yearly income of $32 billion and is promoted by pedophiles ruling in governments around the world, including that of the U.S. The explosion of worldwide support for the vile LGBQT+ agenda is far beyond anything I could ever have imagined just a decade ago. Those demanding a Palestine state fill the streets of our world with demonstrations of murderous and demonic hatred toward the Jews.

How, by any stretch of the imagination, can one say that we are now living under the righteous rule of our Savior? Such a suggestion is absurd at best and defames our Lord.

How is it possible that Jesus is ruling over such vile wickedness with a “rod of iron” as Psalm 2:9 tells us He will do when He inherits the nations? How? Does not the suggestion of this sully Jesus’ holy character?

How could a wholly righteous King such as Jesus permit such vile wickedness and rampant bloodshed to flourish within his domain? He would not, and He will not do so when He truly reigns over the nations!

Here are a couple verses that define Jesus’ rule as righteous


Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule in justice. (Isaiah 32:1)



And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isaiah 11:3-5, emphasis added)

The current condition of our world does not in any way align with the biblical descriptions of Jesus’ righteous rule. The claim that Jesus is now fulfilling the full extent of Psalm 2 is preposterous, contradicts the words of Scripture, and most certainly dishonors our Savior to no small extent.
JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL IN THE WORLD WHEN JESUS REIGNS

When Jesus rules over the nations, justice will prevail throughout the entire planet. In Isaiah 32:1, the prophet states that “princes will rule in justice” during the time that Jesus is King.

Isaiah 11:1-8 tells us that when our Lord rules over the nations of the earth, He will act as a righteous judge deciding all cases truthfully and with “equity.” The words of Jeremiah 33:15 emphasize the Savior’s just rule:


In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

The cries of our world for justice are heard in the screams of pain from the unborn, the suicidal grief of trafficked children, and the horrors of genocide taking place in many places in our world. Be very sure that our Lord hears these cries for justice and will someday soon administer justice through His outpouring of wrath upon this wicked (see Revelation chapters 6-18).

During Jesus’ one-thousand-year rule upon the earth, justice will surely prevail. What we see today is most certainly NOT the just reign of our Savior.
JESUS’ GLORY WILL FILL THE EARTH

The Bible also tells us that someday “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ (Habakkuk 2:14, see also Isaiah 11:9). I think we can all agree that this is not today.

Although as believers we participate in the new covenant because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, it still awaits a greater fulfillment for Israel. Pay close attention to the words of Jeremiah 31:31-34:


“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The above text applies to Israel. Those who say this is the church contradict its clear message and retrofit the passage with a meaning wholly out or place in the Bible.

The Lord declares in Ezekiel 36:22-38 that through the future restoration of a kingdom to Israel, He will declare His holiness to the nations so that “they will know that I am the Lord.”

When Jesus reigns, the entire world will know that He is God. Some will not like it and many will rebel at the end of His rule, but everyone on earth will both see and recognize Jesus’ great glory and power.

THE FACT THAT WE ARE HEIRS TO THE KINGDOM ASSURES US OF ITS FUTURE REALITY

The New Testament reveals that we also have a stake in Jesus’ rule upon the “throne of David” in that we are heirs to His kingdom (Romans 8:17; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 1:11-14; Colossians 1;12; James 2:5).

This assures us of two vital realities:

It’s a future experience for all who know the Savior. Heirs, by definition, do not already possess the fullness of their inheritance. It’s a future reality.


Typically, death has to occur before the inheritance becomes a reality.

Hmmm, that second point doesn’t sound like good news. However, 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 reveals that it’s an extremely welcome truth for us!


I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Paul says that in our current form, with bodies patterned after that of Adam, we cannot take part in God’s future kingdom (see 1 Corinthians 15:47-50). It’s impossible; we cannot inherit our kingdom in our current mortal condition. To say our current experience equals our inheritance of a kingdom contradicts what the apostle writes in this passage

The over-the-top joyous reality is that when Jesus comes for us, He will make us fit for His kingdom by giving us bodies just like His. This is the exciting news that Paul also writes about in Philippians 3:20-21.

What the New Testament describes as our inheritance of a kingdom will be both amazing and joyous far beyond anything we have experienced on earth. Please do not let anyone damper this wonderful expectation by saying the church is the kingdom and that Jesus is now reigning over the nations. Such a statement contradicts the clear words of Scripture and dishonors our Savior.

The news for us is beyond spectacular. Through Paul, the Lord tells us that we can only experience our inheritance in incorruptible bodies that will never age, get sick, or die (1 Corinthians 15:50-55). We will reign with Jesus for a thousand years and then forevermore with immortal bodies. Wow!!

I will close with words of Isaiah 9:7 where the prophet distinctly reveals the nature of the future rule of the Christ:


Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (My Emphasis)

This is the kingdom to which we are heirs and will forever enjoy. This is our hope.

Maranatha!!

The Hope and Darkness of Advent

Bonnie Kristian

Paris Orlando/Wikimedia Commons
December 8, 2019



Christmas is coming, but it is not yet.

Commercially, of course, this year's Christmas season is already long in the tooth. But if you are a Christian in a tradition which keeps the full Western liturgical calendar (and not all traditions do), it has yet to begin. Advent is the four Sundays before Christmas Day, the season of preparation for Christmas, for re-enacting the anticipation of God's rescue of humanity that starts with the birth of Jesus. It is a time of expectation rather than fulfillment, of longing rather than joy. It is the season for waiting.

Coming to this as we do, two millennia after the fact, it is difficult — for me, anyway — to feel this wait as real. I can't pretend I don't know the end of the story. I've heard its spoilers my whole life. And I am not by nature sentimental: The Christmas tree in our home is a concession to my marriage, not something I'd bother with on my own. (Among my earliest memories is when, at 3, I took my mother up on her threat to cancel Christmas if I continued to refuse to dress for the Christmas Eve service — and considered it a fair bargain.) But while I struggle to share in the Advent wait for Christ's first coming, I have no such difficulty participating in its dual anticipation of his return. And the yearning that entails is a yearning I think we all share, whether or not you're a Christian in an Advent tradition, or even a Christian at all.


It is, most basically, a yearning for justice. I don't mean the unsatisfactory justice we habitually encounter, the justice of courts and cops and prison. I don't mean anything so empty as retribution, which as the subject of yearning nearly always takes the uglier form of revenge.

The justice Christians hope for in the return of Jesus is far more than that. It is no sterile terror, no cruel machine that gnaws the innocent and guilty alike. It is the sense — more than that, the reality — that all is as it should be. It is as small as a perfect dinner with loved ones and as grand as the greatest wrongs of history coming under divine judgment, their victims finally, fully made whole. It is God dwelling among his people on a renewed Earth, where "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." It is the redemption of everything, not only humanity, as "creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."

It is an end to war and terrorism and abuse, yes, but also to the suffering of animals and the disfigurement of our planet. It is the realization of our hope that darkness will be broken by light, that death, evil, and oppression will not have the final word.

It may be tempting, when reading this, to say, "Well, that's all very nice, and naturally I would like that too, but that's not the real world. It's just a fairy tale for adults, or perhaps a falsely pious excuse to avoid the work of justice now, to imagine a future when God fixes it all for us so we are not responsible for fixing it ourselves." And that reaction would be very understandable, because too often Christians have used our expectation of Jesus returning in exactly that manner. There are even distorted theologies which explicitly make this move, condoning callousness about poverty because, in this age, "the poor you will always have with you" or dismissing concern over environmental destruction because "the Earth is going to be all burned up anyway. It's in the Bible."


But it's not, not like that, anyway. What the Bible describes, albeit in poetic, apocalyptic language very difficult for us to read in a culture which has lost the genre of apocalypse, is not "the abandonment of the present world, but rather its fulfillment," as N.T. Wright, a New Testament scholar who is among the most important living Christian theologians, has explained. "You don't liberate something by destroying it," Wright continues. "All the beauty, all the goodness, all the pulsating life of the present creation, is to be enhanced, lifted to a new level, in the world that is to be. ... [So] there is a strong incentive to work, in the present, to anticipate the new world in every possible way."

The occupation of those who live in this hope of justice is not to muck things up so God has more to make right. It is to work with God toward that good end, to act now, insofar as it is possible, as the sort of people we will be then. And I'd submit the appeal of this narrative is not an item of evidence for its falsehood: If the hope Advent offers is real, we would quite expect to find a longing for it in every human heart.

Advent, then, is a season of hope and darkness. It is a season which looks unflinchingly at the evil that now besets us and stubbornly insists its days are numbered. And then the joy of Christmas comes, bringing with it a gaiety which, T.S. Eliot tells us, must "not be forgotten in later experience/In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium/The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure," so that our "accumulated memories of annual emotion/May be concentrated into a great joy/Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion/When fear came upon every soul:/Because the beginning shall remind us of the end/And the first coming of the second coming."

Christmas is coming, but it is not yet. Advent bids us wait, declaring justice is not yet either, but it will just as surely come.

Controlling our Thoughts

Many Christians struggle with this issue, especially in our highly technological world, but taking control of our thoughts is essential. Proverbs 4:23 states, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." The “heart” includes the mind and all that proceeds from it. Someone said that every sin we commit, we commit twice, once in our thoughts and again when we act upon those thoughts. It is easier to rid our lives of sin if we attack it at this fundamental thought level rather than waiting for it to become rooted in our lives by our actions and then try to pull it out.

There is also a difference between being tempted (a thought entering into the mind) and sinning (dwelling upon an evil thought and wallowing in it). It is important to understand that when a thought enters our mind, we examine it based upon God's Word and determine if we should continue down that path or reject the thought and replace it with another thought. If we have already allowed a habit to form in our thought lives, it becomes more difficult to change the path of our thoughts, even as it is hard to get a car out of a deep rut and onto a new track. Here are some biblical suggestions for taking control of our thoughts and getting rid of wrong thoughts:

1. Be in God's Word so that when a sinful thought enters our mind (a temptation), we will be able to recognize it for what it is and know what course to take. Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4) responded to each of Satan's temptations with Scripture that applied to the direction He knew His mind should take instead of beginning down the path of the sinful thought. When tempted to meet His physical need (turn stone into bread), He recited the passage about the importance of relying upon God. When tempted to serve Satan in order to obtain the glory of the world, He brought up the passage that says we are to serve and worship God alone and speak of the glory that belongs to Him and those who are His. When tempted to test God (to see if God was really there and would keep His promises), Jesus responded with passages that stress the importance of believing God without having to see Him demonstrate His presence.

Quoting Scripture in a time of temptation is not a talisman, but rather serves the purpose of getting our minds onto a biblical track, but we need to know the Word of God AHEAD of time in order to accomplish this. Thus, a daily habit of being in the Word in a meaningful way is essential. If we are aware of a certain area of constant temptation (worry, lust, anger, etc.), we need to study and memorize key passages that deal with those issues. Looking for both what we are to avoid (negative) and how we are to properly respond (positive) to tempting thoughts and situations—before they are upon us—will go a long way to giving us victory over them.

2. Live in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, chiefly through seeking His strength through prayer (Matthew 26:41). If we rely upon our own strength, we will fail (Proverbs 28:26;Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 26:33).

3. We are not to feed our minds with that which will promote sinful thoughts. This is the idea of Proverbs 4:23. We are to guard our hearts—what we allow into them and what we allow them to dwell on. Job 31:1states, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman" (NKJV). Romans 13:14 states, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Thus, we are to avoid periodicals, videos, websites, conversations and situations that will set us up for a fall. We should also avoid spending time with those who would encourage us down these wrong paths.

4. We are to pursue hard after God, replacing sinful thoughts with godly pursuits and mindsets. This is the principle of replacement. When tempted to hate someone, we replace those hateful thoughts with godly actions: we do good to them, speak well of them, and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). Instead of stealing, we should work hard to earn money so we can look for opportunities to give to others in need (Ephesians 4:28). When tempted to lust after a woman, we turn our gaze, praise God for the way He has made us—male and female—and pray for the woman (for example: "Lord, help this young woman to come to know you if she does not, and to know the joy of walking with you"), then think of her as a sister (1 Timothy 5:2). The Bible often speaks of "putting off" wrong actions and thoughts but then "putting on” godly actions and thoughts (Ephesians 4:22-32). Merely seeking to put off sinful thoughts without replacing those thoughts with godly ones leaves an empty field for Satan to come along and sow his weeds (Matthew 12:43-45).

5. We can use fellowship with other Christians the way God intended. Hebrews 10:24-25 states, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Fellow Christians who will encourage us in the changes we desire (best if of the same gender), who will pray for and with us, who will ask us in love how we are doing, and who will hold us accountable in avoiding the old ways, are valuable friends indeed.

Last and most important, these methods will be of no value unless we have placed our faith in Christ as Savior from our sin. This is where we absolutely must start! Without this, there can be no victory over sinful thoughts and temptations, and God’s promises for His children are not for us, nor is the Holy Spirit’s power available to us!

God will bless those who seek to honor Him with what matters most to Him: who we are inside and not just what we appear to be to others. May God make Jesus’ description of Nathanael true also of us—a man [or woman] in whom there is no guile (John 1:47).

Our Sufficiency in Christ

Just started John Mac Arthur's Our Sufficiency in Christ and already loving it!  Here are some excerpts from the prelude:

I am concerned with the current erosion of confidence in the perfect sufficiency of our spiritual resources in Christ.  As Christians, we find complete sufficiency in Christ and His provisions for our needs.  There's no such thing as an incomplete or deficient Christian.  Our Savior's divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.  Human wisdom offers nothing to augment that.  Every Christian receives all he or she needs at the moment of salvation.  Each one must grow and mature, but no necessary resource is missing.  There's no need to search for something more.

When Jesus completed His redemptive work on Calvary, He cried out triumphantly, "It is finished" (John 19:30).  The saving work was fulfilled, completed. Nothing was omitted. And all who are recipients of that salvation are granted everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:3).  In Him we have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1Cor 1:30).  His grace is sufficient for every situation (2 Cor. 12:9). We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Him (Eph. 1:3). By one offering He has perfected us forever (Heb 10:14). We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). What can anyone add to that?

So to possess the Lord Jesus Christ is to have every spiritual resource. All strength, wisdom, comfort, joy, peace, meaning, value, purpose, hope, and fulfillment in life now and forever is bound up in Him.  Christianity is an all-sufficient relationship with an all-sufficient Christ.

The church is in dire need of a renewed appreciation of what it means to be complete in Christ. The failure of modern Christians to understand and appropriate the riches of Christ has opened the door to all kinds of aberrant influences.  Bad doctrine, legalism, libertinism, humanism, and secularization - to name a few - are eroding the foundations of the Christian faith.  Those satanic assaults are more subtle and therefore more dangerous than the liberalism that splintered the church at the start of this century - and they are succeeding with alarming effectiveness.

In the past two decades or so, for example, theology has become more and more humanistic.  The focus has shifted from God to people and their problems, and counseling has replace worship and evangelism as the main program of many churches.  Christians are becoming more and more dependent on therapists, support groups and similar groups.

This shift in the church's focus did not grow out of some new insight gained from Scripture.  Rather, it has seeped into the church from the world.  It is an attack at the most basic level, challenging Christians' confidence in the sufficiency of Christ.

Contemporary opinion is more utilitarian, valuing physical comfort more than spiritual well-being, self-esteem above Christ-likeness, and good feelings over holy living. Many churches have de-emphasized preaching and worship in favor of entertainment, apparently believing they must lure converts by appealing to fleshly interests. As if Christ Himself were in some way inadequate.

"When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"  Luke 18:8